If Bills coach Doug Marrone loves his old Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib as much as everyone says, then it would make sense for Buffalo to pick Nassib with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft. But no one else seems to love Nassib as much as Marrone does, which might suggest that the Bills could trade down from No. 8 and get Nassib late in the first round, or even take Nassib with their second-round pick.
The problem, however, is that the Bills are worried that a team in their own division may quietly love Nassib just as much as they do.
That team is the Jets: According to Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, Buffalo believes the Jets are seriously interested in Nassib, and the Bills fear that if they don’t draft Nassib, they might end up facing him twice a year.
The Jets pick three times before the Bills’ second selection, No. 41 overall: The Jets own the No. 9 pick, the No. 13 pick and the No. 39 pick. So if the Jets do like Nassib, any hope the Bills have of taking him in the second round goes out the window.
We’ve also heard the Bills fear that the Jaguars are interested in taking Nassib with the first pick of the second round, No. 33 overall. So even if the Jets’ interest is a smokescreen, the Bills may not be able to wait until the second round to get their man.
In other words, if Buffalo really wants Nassib, it needs to spend the No. 8 overall pick on him. Or at least that’s what other teams want the Bills to think.